Starting the day with an adventure

Nothing goes as it usually does. Everything has changed differently than before. Even the normal walking route you take to work everyday has changed because of that one thing that was different today.

Usually when I start my day I take the normal routine before I go to work: After I wake up I wash my face and brush my teeth. I get dressed and have my breakfast. Then I’ll kiss my wife goodbye and head out to the train station on my beautiful orange Swedish Kronan bike and hop on the big yellow train to Amsterdam.

As a creature of habit I take about the same time with everything in the morning, even when I’m riding my bike I’ll take the same route to the station every day. It doesn’t matter what kind of weather it is, I’ll always take the same route.

Maybe it’s what you needed. That one nudge to put you off the regular path that made you venture out of the familiar woods and into unexplored territory. A whole new world is there to be taken in by you and to find new treasures.

Sometimes the start of my day takes an unusual turn and forces me to improvise and abandon my favorite routine. Today was that kind of day…

I was waiting on the platform for the train to come and when it arrived I lined up beside the door to let the passengers off before getting on the train. At the same time a youngster lined up right beside me, closing in to the door, trying to squeeze through already. Once all passengers were out I tried to get in and the youngster squeezed on the train from beside me. His backpack got stuck between the door and me, while I was still trying to get on the train, and when we both were on the train he pushed me backwards for obstructing his way onto the train. We exchanged a few hefty words and I walked away to find myself a seat.. on the other side of the train.

If that’s what happended then maybe that one nudge by that one frustrated fellow train passenger was the one you needed to get out of your comfort zone. Just accept it and go on exploring that unknown realm behind the nudge.

While the train was making its way to Amsterdam, which usually takes about 20 minutes, I had time to think about what just had happened.
After I realized the situation and accepted it as a typical ‘one-of-those-days’-thing I started wondering about how this really changed my usual routine and my winter-time jetlag (we still have Daylight Saving time here in Holland.. yeah).

The past few days, ever since the wintertime clock started, I haven’t been my usual motivated self. I’ve been walking around with sleepy eyes and haven’t been able to get a half hour of solid work done. This new surprising start of the day was actually a pleasant wake up call from my normal daily startup routine.

Once the train arrived in Amsterdam I’ve walked a completely different route from the train to the tram that I take to the office. I’ve skipped the closest stairs, yet the most busy one, off the platform and took the next one that ends up on the other side of the main hall. I took some narrow shortcuts behind the columns in the hall and checked out at a totally different gate to get out of the station.

Eventually I found that today was a good new start of the day for me, even though very surprising and adventurous, and it got me out of my slumbering winter-time jetlag and back to my motivated self.